ZERO(The Skulls, 6)(17)

“Eat,” Zero said, standing on the other side of her, giving her a stern look. She rolled her eyes but picked up her spoon to start eating the slop. He hoped it was porridge.

“Zero has told us what happened last night,” Tiny said, stepping at the foot of the bed.

Prue tensed and paused in eating. “Yes, Alan was here last night. He’s a dangerous man and intent on hurting Zero any way he can.” He watched her swallow the food, then wipe her mouth. “I’m done.” She pushed the tray of food away from her.

“You need to eat more,” he said.

“You try eating remembering how easily Alan got to me last night. From the way he spoke, he walked right past your man and no one even noticed him.” She stopped, tucking some hair behind her ear. “He’s dangerous, Zero. You should be taking care of your club as well. No one is safe.”

“This is one man we’re talking about,” Tiny said.

“So, he’s one man who has a serious fucking issue with Zero. This is a game to him. Alan is responsible for killing my brother, but he is the reason Alan is so angry.” Prue pointed at him. “Alan will hurt whoever Zero cares about. This is only the beginning. He’s got plans.”

“Honey, he’s not going to get to us,” Butch said.

He watched her shake her head. “You’ll be a fool to not take any warning. Alan will hurt anyone.”

“Why didn’t he kill you?” Steven asked, drawing the attention to him.

Prue paused, glancing at the younger man. “This is a game to him. It’s what Alan said. He decided I would be much more fun to use. I was a messenger to let Zero know the games had begun.”

Zero glanced at his brothers knowing they were thinking about what she said.

“There will be ‘round the clock protection for you, honey. My wife will be stopping by to get to know you as well. You’ll be getting a lot better than this shit grub,” he said.

“Thank you.” She smiled at Tiny, the sweet smile Zero always loved to see.

“Zero, follow us out. Steven, stay behind and keep her company.”

Wishing he could argue, Zero kissed her on the head then followed the rest of his brothers outside. His president pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and blew the smoke up in the air.

“She’s fucking terrified,” he said.

“Yes. I don’t blame her. Alan got past Blaine. The nurses didn’t even catch him. No one knew what the hell was going on until she started screaming.” Zero grabbed his own cigarette, needing the relaxing quality of the nicotine. The last twenty-four hours had him on fucking edge.

“She’s not leaving Fort Wills,” Tiny said.

“I wouldn’t leave her alone. I certainly don’t want that fucker in there looking after her. I saw the way he was looking at her. Bastard needs to know to keep his eyes to his fucking self,” Zero said, cursing. No one was taking Prue away from him. Not Steven either. Fucker screwed everything that walked, and he wasn’t going to deal with that kind of shit.

What about Sophia?

Gritting his teeth, he saw the others were staring at him as if he’d gone mad. Maybe he had gone mad. Jealousy clawed at him, making his cigarette taste bitter.

“I’m sure Nash will appreciate the break of having to keep his woman,” Butch said, smirking.

He hadn’t seen Sophia since he’d tried to kiss her the night before. An apology was in order. One he wasn’t looking forward to making, especially when he wasn’t sorry at all. Only when he thought about Prue did he feel sorry for his attempts to kiss Sophia.

“You’re coming home. We’re leaving Steven to take care of Prue while you do. We need to get the others up to date. Whizz can do his thing on the computer. I’m not letting anyone get killed this time,” Tiny said. “Too much fucking death going around. I fucking hate it.”

Zero moved back to the hospital.

“Where the fuck are you going?” Tiny asked.

“To say goodbye to her.”

Tiny shook his head. “Nice fucking try. I’m leaving Steven in charge. Butch just texted him to give him an update. Get on your bike, and get back to the clubhouse.”

Wanting to argue, Zero fisted his hands and made his way back to his bike. His body ached from the beating he had taken and given out the other night. Killer hit the hardest while Nash stayed away from him. He imagined if Nash knew what he’d tried to do the other man would fuck him over.

Riding back to the clubhouse was uneventful. There were cars in the lot and several of the club hanging around their bikes, talking. He spotted the sweet-butts trying to get some action. Eva was at the side of the clubhouse where they’d installed a small park for the kids to play on.